Open source software-planks
Schools and Open Source * The schools in Pittsburgh, from public to private, can do more with Linux, the internet, and community outreach that centers upon technology. A major philosophy shift to open source has swept the world. Pittsburgh lags. A whole new world of open source software and community support needs to develop quickly in Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh needs to capitalize upon these opportunities. We can't lag. * When all of our educational institutions leverage open-source solutions, we'll save money and become much smarter in the process. * Schools play important roles in the Youth Technology Summit. And open source software has a big role in that proposed event. * As teachers, administrators and students release code under open source licenses and copyleft licenses, we'll take notice and give them community awards. Cost are little or nothing for goodwill and awareness. * Software is a nice means of expression. We should make it a priority and give it the spotlight from time to time. * The city's IT office can maintain a repository of open-source software. * Contests can be part of our landscape. Pittsburgh needs some high-tech tools to make our work easier. We can issue requests and ask that volunteer programmers and schools work on these ventures, with some props as motivators. When we nurture these efforts, we'll get good returns. We'll need to author clear programming specifications. * One of today's problems with open source in schools and other public sectors is that people who work in schools and work in government still don't get the idea of community around this kind of development. I've witnessed this in coaching and in sports. Coaches are people people and technology is not the first tool that is addressed on the playgrounds. But, technology needs to be in the toolbox. An email to all the players in the league can save a coach hours on the phone. The city can provide some of these insights with training, events at the convention center, and perhaps some infrastructure. * There is little political interference in technology. Rather, the road blocks are in the people on the job now in leadership roles who have nver moderized. At the state level, Tom Ridge was all over technology but that came from an entrenched Microsoft-think attitude. The sales people got to former Governor Tom Ridge while he was in office and that helped advance tech, but it can also present a legacy problem due time. Ours is an open-source priority that won't invenst into Microsoft's mentality. A "community of software developers/users" can be a difficult concept to get across to folks who buy only shrink-wrapped software that runs on desktops. * Pittsburgh can be known for efforts to create good software, good documentation and training materials in a collaborative, cooperative fashion. * Mozilla, OpenOffice.org, The Gimp (The GNU Image Manipulation Program) and others can make a quick impact in both schools and governmental jobs. At the outset, we strive to craft and organize great instructional materials. As we make the best use of open source programs, splendid results would occur. Teacher training and instructional materials are crucial. In the second and third years with the new administration with the open source priorities, the impacts accelerate. Open-Source goals: * Simplicity. Let's keep the design and scripting simple and easy to understand and modify. We shy away from a centralized library of functions at first. * Built on tried and proven technology, including Linux, Perl, LaTeX, CSS, and MySQL, that is reliable and low maintenance. * Transparency. Move functions out of the central office and onto the teachers' workstations so they can print their own reports and manage their own classrooms more easily. In the process, this should simplify the job of the secretary/ies. * We want citizens, taxpayers, landlords and students to always to be aware of their progress and marks. Consider these as on-line grade books as a resulting outcome. Much more work has to be done. Similarly, for parents, the parent functions allow them to track their children's progress in school more easily. * Control. People need to have control of their software and its functions rather than being at the mercy of software companies that charge large amounts of money. Hopefully, and open-source policy and good teamwork in that sector can put control back into the hands of teachers and administrators. It would be nice to have a community of folks to help support this. * Adoption is hard to measure. We can't track sales figures as downloads are free and they quickly come from all over the planet. * Open source is very gratifying. It certainly lifts your spirits when someone appreciates your hard work. The supporting divisions have paid for feature development. But we expect most of the documentation and open-source releases to be on my own time, unpaid. * We have to think carefully about what we mean by success. We will have success when we have more of a community built around supporting it and fostering development. This is open source wave is happening now in other palces, but it's been slow. We can give it roots here in Pittsburgh. ** Family Reports and Functions ** Parent-Teacher Scheduling ** Student Pictures & Attendance Reporting ** Gradebook Upgrades ** Documentation Improvements ** Adding and improving scheduling * As an elected official, I can't think of anything more fulfilling that helping the kids and leaving a legacy. Links * Open source software category:Platform_Planks_from_Mark_Rauterkus